Epic Idea...Lousy Execution...

Rating: 6/10 (12 July 2013)

Robots vs. Giant Monsters? What could possibly go wrong? How about bad acting, bad pacing, shallow and clichéd characters, and long stretches between action that feel like they're from another movie? Heck, it'll almost feel like you're watching a sequel to an earlier movie. I get that they wanted to put us in the middle of the story to better catch our attention and intrigue, but it would've been nice to see more of the start of the war instead of a summary. Therein lies one of the movie's main problems: it's rushed in some place...and slow in others. The other problem? The characters are paper thing cutouts we've seen before, and better.
This is also displayed very early in when we meet our hero, Raleigh Becket, and his brother. They literally start their day battling a kaiju...and Raleigh's brother is killed. Thing is, we never learn anything about him other than he's the older brother and that's it. There's no reason to be sad when he's killed. Raleigh misses him deeply, but the audience isn't given any reason to miss him at all. Likewise, most of the other "Jaeger" pilots are just...there. They don't have any personality and play a ridiculously small role for people piloting giant robots to fight monsters. The ones that do have some personality/play a role are one-note stereotypes we've seen before.
The only other pilot who really stands out is Mako Mori. She's given the most depth & backstory...but it's sadly undermined by Rinko Kikuchi's performance. And wouldn't ya know it, she and Raleigh have a romantic subplot that's dull and fairly intrusive.
Raleigh himself is a boring, clichéd, unlikable hero. He has no personality other than being your standard issue fighting ace who fell from grace, but still has amazing, almost superhuman skills. That's all there is to him and we never really learn any more than that. It doesn't help that Charlie Hunnam is just another action movie star who'd skills seem limited to shouting, scowling, and smirking.
Luckily, there's some good supporting players. Iris Elba gives the movie's best performance as the team leader Commander Pentecost. Ron Pearlman seems to be enjoying himself as (the snazzy dressed) black marketer Hannibal Chau. Charlie Day and Burn Gorman bring some energy & comic relief as a pair of scientists (though they can be kind of annoying)
Thing is, it really could've all turned out better. The Kaiju are massive and bestial and look as fearsome as giant monsters would be if they were real.The Jaegers all have unique designs and abilities to help them standout (even if their pilots don't). The battles between them are fast, brutal and bombastic and are indeed the highlight of the film,especially in some pretty good 3D.
Unfortunately, when there isn't any Kaiju vs. Jaeger action, it's as boring as a movie about cities being destroyed in battles between giant monsters and robots can be...